Articles written by Steve Cullen

Who knows how many new videos and articles are put on the line each day talking about the gear you should own as a photographer? And, more importantly, when was the last time that you read an article about gear that promised to get you closer to the action, help make you more energetic, and it can charge all of your batteries too?

Where you can or cannot fly a drone when it comes to United States public lands is a confusing topic with an answer that has to be pieced together by studying multiple government websites. Navigating the gauntlet of online information can be daunting but I'm here to help.

The Internet can take you to places that you might never get to see in person such as the famed astronomical clock in Prague’s Old Town Square or the Amundsen–Scott research station in Antarctica. And, there are cameras situated at literally the top of the world capturing things in the night sky that you may have never even seen before.

Cruising in an airplane high above Earth you sometimes get to see places that are nearly impossible to reach, or even view, from the ground. Taking photos of those sights is not only fun but it can serve as a memory that you were sort of there in the first place. If you like geography, geology, or history in general it can also be an excellent reference so that you can investigate the area further once you’re back on terra firma.

For me and many photographers that I know, compositing and post-processing is fine, even needed in many cases. The thing that we all seem to get wrapped around the axle about is when a fellow artist is not entirely forthcoming about how a work was produced.

Friends and social media are mourning the loss of locally well-known Hawaii-based photographer and tour guide Sean King. He died early Thursday morning on the lava fields of the Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island. King and I were Facebook friends and our paths crossed once while doing photography on the summit of Mauna Kea. He was the stereotypical New Yorker, tough but with a huge heart.

With the new year now well underway, I took some time this week to ponder my motivations for doing photography in the first place. I think it is healthy to every now and again stop and evaluate where you are, what you’re doing, and whether or not it is worth spending your precious time on. Maybe there are some nuggets of useful information from this exercise that will prove useful for you. If nothing else, perhaps it’ll nudge you to reflect on your own photographic journey and help you get to where you want to go.

Sure, I dig gear reviews, image processing tutorials, and seeing what others are doing with photography just as much as the next person, but today I want to talk about something a little less tangible yet possibly the most important thing when it comes to landscape photography: how does the location feel?

It may seem like it was only yesterday, but the upcoming total lunar eclipse is actually the first one in nearly three years. Taking place on the morning of January 31, it will be fully or partially visible to folks living in Asia, Australia, the Pacific, and North America. If you are in the United States, the farther north and west you live, the better. Here are five tips I’ve put together to help you prepare for capturing some epic shots.

I think that it is fair to say that photographers have probably been doing bad things to public lands, popular landmarks, and other natural resources since around the time that the camera was invented. There’s no way to keep ignorant people from acting irresponsibly. But, with the power of the crowd and the reach of social media, photographers need to think twice before staging shooting sessions that could result in damage.

Just when you thought that your camera has all of the resolving power you will ever need with a 50- or even a 100-megapixel sensor, a new king of the hill has arrived on the scene and the comparison to what you have isn’t even close. With 1.5 billion pixels of CCD goodness, this camera smashes the ceiling on resolution and is sure to be the envy of anyone who cares about such things.

With Christmas solidly in the rearview mirror and that shiny new camera that Santa brought screaming for some action, it is all on you to shake off that excess holiday cheer and head outside to see how you and your gear performs.

Sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference between a technically accurate photograph and one that has been modified, enhanced, composited (you pick the word) in order to give it a broader audience appeal. Nature is both stunning and surprising in its raw magnificence which begs the question: why should we mess with it at all in photographs?

With the 2017 Geminid meteor shower peaking this evening, I put together a list of 10 things to think about before you head out into the cold, dark night to enjoy the show. Whether you’re an old pro or a complete rookie at photographing meteor showers, it never hurts to review just to make sure you are at the top of your game.

OK, I’ll say it: the majority of the supermoon photographs on social media are not very good. When I began working on this article, I was truly looking forward to writing about the “10 Best Supermoon Photographs on Social Media.” But at the intersection of Instagram and Twitter, I took a wrong turn and just kept going... straight into the full-on dumpster fire that is the world of supermoon photographs on the Internet.

Photographers across social media channels chimed in late this week as leaked documents were made public by the Washington Post on Thursday detailing the proposed size reductions and restructuring of both the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument as well as the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah.

My name is Steve Cullen and I am a full-time photographer, videographer, and workshop leader based in the Pacific Northwest. My photography focus is primarily on landscapes and nightscapes with a budding interest in product, small-scale, and portraiture photography. I am also a videographer specializing in aerial content and timelapse while also providing aerial inspection services for clients.

I spend ten to fifteen days every month heading out in my Jeep and Airstream Basecamp to wherever the scenery and light might be good. The southwest, eastern Washington state, the Oregon Coast, the Alvord Desert, and the Canadian Rockies down to northern Montana are where you'll find me most often.

My photographic work is available as fine art prints and for licensing. Video content can be licensed or purchased. My 3-day In-the-field photography workshops are usually scheduled around the New Moon from March through October. I am available for contract/commissioned photography and videography projects as well. Feel free to get in touch with me any time to talk about how I can help you.